* Editor's note - The Maui News continues its series of stories featuring candidates in contested primary races for county and state offices. Candidates who automatically advance to the Nov. 2 general election will be featured in the days leading up to that contest. The primary election is Saturday.
WAILUKU - Council Member Wayne Nishiki is defending his South Maui residency seat against two challengers who contend his late filing of a financial disclosure in 2008 remains an issue this election year.
Nishiki points out that the $100,000 he accepted from developer Everett Dowling was a personal loan, not a campaign contribution, and that it was given in 2005 when he was not in office. He maintains the matter was dealt with by the Maui Board of Ethics, and said he was baffled that it was still an issue.
"I don't know why this is even being brought up," he said.
The issue surfaced and generated some sparks last month during a Kula candidate forum. Nishiki said he hoped the matter had been put to rest, but challengers Don Couch and Norman Vares said they are not at all ready to drop the controversy.
"It's an issue," said Vares, who finished third in a four-way South Maui council primary in 2008. (Nishiki finished first in that race with 9,993 votes, followed by Couch with 5,954, Vares with 1,751 and Joe Gannon with 1,275.)
Vares said Nishiki was "always against development" and then revealed he had "taken money from a developer."
"He says one thing and does something else," Vares said. "Can you trust a person like that?"
Couch lost the 2008 general election race with 21,250 votes to Nishiki's 23,294.
Nishiki filed a report disclosing the loan from Dowling more than two months late, after the primary election had been held and one week before the general election. The county Board of Ethics reviewed the filing at its next scheduled meeting - two weeks after Nishiki had been elected.
Couch contends that Nishiki intentionally delayed publicly disclosing the Dowling loan to keep it out of the public eye until after the general election.
"I came so close last time," he said. "It's my contention that if (the loan) had been known before (the election) the results would have been different. And now that it's known, the results of this upcoming general election will be different."
In 2009, the ethics panel questioned Nishiki about the loan and his late filing. Ultimately, the board took no action against Nishiki other than sending him a warning letter instructing him to meet the filing deadline in the future. This year, Nishiki filed his report on time, revealing that he has begun paying down the debt and now owes less than the original amount.
Couch remains upset that, during the 2008 campaign, Nishiki criticized him for taking campaign contributions from developers, while he had taken $100,000 from Dowling.
"When you hide a huge secret and then go after the other guy for a similar thing . . . I don't think that's kosher," he said.
Nishiki said there's an important distinction between the money from Dowling, which was a loan, and campaign contributions coming from developers. He said he received no campaign contributions from developers in 2008 while Couch took thousands from a "who's who" in development. A campaign contribution from developers means they "expect favors," he said.
If any matter comes before the council involving Dowling, "I will abstain from voting," Nishiki said.
When asked about the late filing of his financial disclosure, Nishiki said "there was no intention to mislead." When asked if he had made an error, he said, "I don't think we made a mistake."
Nishiki said he is repaying the loan to Dowling in monthly payments of about $400. He said he didn't know the balance of the loan, but when repeatedly pressed for an estimate he said he thought it was about $80,000 or in "that area."
Couch said he has fully disclosed contributions from developers and others, which were "legal, above board . . . reported on time, every time."
He said he does not consider himself beholden to developers or others who contribute to his campaign, but with developers, "I'll at least talk to them in my office.
"You have to get every side of the story," Couch said. "In order to do your homework, you have to do a lot of discovery."
Nishiki is well known for refusing to meet developers in his office and then grilling them on the council floor, he said.
"The way Wayne does it, it's a one-way drubbing if he doesn't agree with you," Couch said. "It's really difficult to go up there and testify before the council. . . . You can't have a healthy dialogue. You can't speak freely.
"Wayne is not in any way respectful to the people he disagrees with," Couch said.
Nishiki said people have come to rely on him to "ask the hard questions."
He acknowledged he doesn't meet with developers in his office because he wants issues before the council discussed openly in a public forum and not behind closed doors.
"Any major development that has consequences for the community should be aired in the sunshine," Nishiki said. "If it's done in a back room, where is the ability of the entire community to hear what is being spoken? That is not what Wayne Nishiki is all about."
Vares challenges Nishiki's effectiveness as a council member and contends "he doesn't get involved in the community."
Vares said he watched Nishiki deal with a matter involving a Maalaea wedding permit and a problem with a septic system that was too small. With a long career in plumbing and as a civil contractor, Vares said he could see the easy fix was to double the size of the septic system, but Nishiki was apparently unable to see that.
Nishiki "doesn't have the right answers all the time," he said.
Nishiki said he has been effective in working with fellow council members to hire four new county Department of Finance employees to more aggressively pursue people who challenge property tax assessments, a move that could bring in more than $2 million to county coffers. He said he also has been successful in advocating for including more than $53 million in capital improvement projects for South Maui, including the first phase of the South Maui regional park, which will have ball fields with lighting for night play, and a new police station, which should be a "big boon" for public safety.
Council members also were successful in negotiating with the state for a new long-term lease for the Kihei Youth Center, he said.
"I'm proud that we've gotten these issues resolved," Nishiki said.
Also, with the county facing tight budgets, Nishiki said he and the two members of his staff voluntarily took annual pay cuts of 4.9 percent, which is equal to what other county employees are taking as part of monthly furloughs.
He said that during one of the county's "toughest budgets" ever, council members were able to keep property taxes from rising.
With another two-year term, Nishiki said he would like to help hundreds of Upcountry residents get water meters with the county having the opportunity to purchase a privately developed well in Makawao.
In his current financial disclosure, Nishiki reported earning between $50,000 and $99,999 as a council member (councilors earn $66,500 annually) and yearly retirement income of $10,000 to $24,000. His report shows he has a mortgage owing $200,000 to $499,999 on a condominium unit in Kihei.
Vares said he sees the economy as being the most important issue facing voters, and he suggested that Maui could be a new location for Marines leaving bases on Okinawa. Although the Marines are headed for Guam, some of the approximately 8,000 Marines and their families could relocate to Maui, he said, and provide a recession-proof base for the island's economy, he said.
"That's an economy that never drops," Vares said, while acknowledging the idea probably would not be popular because "a lot of people don't like the military."
However, "it's an option . . . something to look at," he said.
Vares said he'd also like to see more economic diversification, possibly with more agriculture on the island.
Even though his background is in construction, Vares said he's not in favor of development outside of areas already designated for urban uses. South Maui's future housing needs, for example, should be met for the next 40 years by the Honua'ula/Wailea 670 development coming on line, he said.
Vares' financial disclosure shows he has annual income of between $25,000 and $49,999 from being a construction estimator/consultant for Maui Construction Inc. In the last year, he represented the company on a building inspection matter with the county departments of Public Works and Environmental Management. He also reports annual retirement income of $10,000 to $24,000. He owes $200,000 to $499,999 on a personal residence in Kihei.
Couch said he would do what he could to support small businesses, particularly with small, home-based businesses that would not have an intrusive impact on neighborhoods. Hair stylists and massage therapists would be examples of such low-impact businesses that would struggle to pay a commercial rent, he said.
If a business were to have one client an hour, "I don't think that's going to mess a neighborhood up," he said.
Couch's financial disclosure reports an income of $25,000 to $49,999 per year as an information technology manager for Levin & Wu LLP and of $1,000 to $9,999 annually as a computer consultant. With his spouse, Couch has part-ownership in computer consulting and accounting services businesses. He discloses owing between $200,000 to $499,999 on a Kihei residence. He also reported representing, within the last year, Douglas and Maureen Levin before the county Department of Planning in a bed-and-breakfast permit renewal matter. (Couch is a former deputy director of the planning department.)
* Brian Perry can be reached at citydesk@mauinews.com.
